Trump-resistant and election battling Republicans including two former Presidents, two former Republican nominees, and several former 2016 presidential hopefuls are offering up excuses for why they will not attend the Republican National Convention in Cleveland next week, notably among them a break with a history of former Presidents attending their party’s convention. Here are ten of the most prominent Republicans who say they’ll skip out on the convention and a few more who will or maybe won’t.

They've been bitter rivals, allies and colleagues. When they take the stage at their first joint campaign appearance on Tuesday, President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton will show off a new phase in their storied relationship: co-dependents. Clinton's chances of winning the White House hinge on rallying Obama's coalition to her cause. Obama's legacy depends on her success. Eight years after they spent millions tearing each other down in pursuit of the White House, they will now spend countless words and four months selling each other to the public. The foe-to-friend story will be at the center of the Obama-Clinton...

Ben Carson--who the Washington Post called the both best and worst campaign surrogate of all time--revealed that former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, among many others, is on Donald Trump's shortlist for potential running mates. [...]He had just explained to the reporter riding along that he wanted no role in a Trump administration when news arrived of a new poll naming him as the best liked of a list of potential running mates. “Who else was on the list?” he asked quietly, maintaining his usual inscrutable calm. The most favorably regarded contenders after himself, he was told, were John Kasich, Marco...

A reflective Jeb Bush said he had no regrets Thursday about his failed presidential bid, saying in his first interview since leaving the race that Donald Trump could still lose the nomination fight. "There's a possibility that he won't get 50% on the first ballot," Bush told CNN's Jamie Gangel, giving his first television interview exclusively to CNN after dropping out of the presidential race in February. "And if he doesn't do that, there are a whole lot of people who don't believe he's the proper guy."

Jeb Bush early Wednesday endorsed Ted Cruz’s Republican presidential bid, calling the Texas senator a “consistent, principled conservative.” Bush, who ended his own campaign last month, said Cruz has “has demonstrated the ability to appeal to voters and win primary contests.” “Washington is broken, and the only way Republicans can hope to win back the White House and put our nation on a better path is to support a nominee who can articulate how conservative policies will help people rise up and reach their full potential," the former Florida governor said. Bush called on Republicans to “overcome the divisiveness and...

Mitt Romney will campaign with John Kasich Monday at two stops in Ohio, NBC News has learned from a source familiar with the plans. Romney is not expected to endorse the Ohio governor during the campaign swing, the source said, but it will be the first time Romney has campaigned on behalf of a Republican candidate this cycle. It's a significant move for the former Republican nominee, who previously recorded campaign telephone "robocalls" for Kasich as well as Marco Rubio. Earlier this month, at a speech in Utah, Romney lambasted frontrunner Donald Trump as a "fraud" and warned of the...

McCain...admitted that he was perplexed by the state of the GOP race. He said he was deeply concerned by what he described as deep-seated anger that was defining the contest - the same anger, he said, that was permeating his own race.

I was watching a mob documentary the other day on gangster "Crazy Joe" Gallo and it was mentioned that he modeled his real life character after a character in this movie, a thug named "Tommy Udo", portrayed by actor Richard Widmark. So I thought I'd see if I could find it on YouTube, and did. Turned out to be an excellent old-school gangster film. Some of you I'm sure have seen it. But, if not, it's one I'd recommend.

President Barack Obama closed his next-to-last year in office with rare praise for congressional Republican leaders who helped orchestrate a bipartisan budget deal Friday, then vowed to work hard to beat the GOP and get a fellow Democrat elected to succeed him in the White House. [...] While Obama was sidelined by his party in the 2014 midterm elections, he made clear he plans to play a robust role in the 2016 campaign. He said he expected Democrats to nominate a strong candidate, though he did not publicly side with front-runner Hillary Clinton or top challenger Bernie Sanders. "I think...

In a conference call today, President Barack Obama endorsed Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) in her bid to win her Senate seat, which she has held for more than a decade, against Rep. Bill Cassidy (R-LA). The endorsement will most likely serve as a burden for Landrieu, rather than an asset, as a majority of Louisiana voters do not approve of Obama’s agenda and the way he has handled Obamacare or the economy. Landrieu has spent her entire re-election avoiding Obama and his policies, which she has largely supported. Exit polling in the November Senate race, showed that there are 5...

Incumbent Hawaii Governor Neil Abercrombie was soundly defeated in the state's Democratic primary, results showed on Sunday. The loss by Abercrombie, who had been endorsed by Hawaii-born President Barack Obama, marked the first defeat for an incumbent Democratic governor in Hawaii since it was granted statehood in 1959, potentially re-arranging the political landscape before the U.S. general election in November. Final results showed Abercrombie with 30.8 percent of the votes and the winner, state Senator David Ige, with 66.1 percent.

WorldNet Daily editor Joseph Farah has claimed numerous times that President Obama was not born in the US, even though Obama has released both his short-form and long-form birth certificates, proving he was born in Hawaii. Farah is now strongly supporting Canadian-born Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) for president. While that might sound hypocritical to most, Farah claims he can do so because the so-called “media elite” ignored his "birther" theory about Obama. In a recent op-ed, Farah praised sen. Cruz for releasing his birth certificate, while attacking Obama for a "lack of transparency and thin paper trail." Farah writes: With...

Gov. Rick Perry is putting his months of attacks on Mitt Romney behind him and rallying to the presumptive Republican presidential nominee's banner. The Texas Republican makes his first campaign trip on behalf of Romney on Friday when he visits Elko, Nev. He'll make two evening stops there Friday evening, with visits to the Silver State Stampede Rodeo and a Romney campaign office. Romney, who's a former Massachusetts governor, isn't expected to appear. Nevada is a key state Obama won in 2008.

It’s probably not the endorsement that incumbent Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch needs right now, as the Republican is locked up in a primary challenge from Dan Liljenquist. But Saturday on Melissa Harris-Perry’s MSNBC show, former Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter, the co-author of “Life Among the Cannibals: A Political Career, a Tea Party Uprising, and the End of Governing As We Know It,” pleaded with Utah voters to keep their senior senator. Specter told Harris-Perry that the current climate in Washington, D.C. isn’t lending itself to electoral success for moderate incumbents, which he said has been the focus of a crusade...

Mitt Romney decided to give a great big hug to… George W. Bush and the bank bailouts: “I keep hearing the president say he’s responsible for keeping the country out of a Great Depression,” Romney said at a town hall in Arbutus, Maryland. “No, no, no, that was President George W. Bush and [then-Treasury Secretary] Hank Paulson.”

(CNSNews.com) - Ener1--a company that manufactures batteries for electric cars, and that received $118.5 million in federal stimulus money, and that Vice President Joe Biden visited last year the day after President Obama’s State of the Union Address—announced today that it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. In last year’s State of the Union Address, delivered Jan. 25, 2011, President Obama set a national goal of having a million electric vehicles on the road in the United States by 2015—a goal that would be achieved, Obama said, by taking money out of the oil industry and “investing” it in...

Less than two weeks before Iowa Republicans make their crucial caucus choices on the night of Jan. 3, George H.W. Bush offered words of support, if not an official endorsement, to an old friend, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, according to a story today in the Houston Chronicle. “I think Romney is the best choice for us,” former President Bush told the newspaper. “I like Perry, but he doesn’t seem to be going anywhere; he’s not surging forward.” The former president’s choice is a blow to native son Rick Perry, the Texas governor who has had a long-standing feud with...

Ed Rollins, former campaign manager and current "informal adviser" to Rep. Michele Bachmann, told MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell moments ago that Bachmann doesn't have the "ability or the resources" to go beyond Iowa. Rollins stopped working for the campaign day-to-day earlier this month in a staff shakeup, and criticized her comments on the HPV vaccine last week. Rollins said Texas Gov. Rick Perry's entrance into the race undercut her campaign, and that she was unprepared for the national stage running as a congresswoman.

Ralph Nader hearts Sarah Palin? We decided to call the longtime left crusader about a speech Palin gave in Iowa earlier this month, one which seemed to mark the transformation of Palin from a standard-issue movement conservative to something more independent and more reformist. And Nader told us he liked what he heard. "I think she's a lot smarter than most people credit her," says Nader. "Judging by her comments, she is squarely in the camp of conservative populism, opposed to corporatism and its corporate state." Palin delivered the speech in question in Indianola, Iowa, on Sept. 3. As Anand...

Gore lauds Romney on climate position By Jordan Fabian - 06/15/11 01:17 PM ET Former Vice President Al Gore on Wednesday praised GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney for his acknowledgement of global climate change. Gore, who has championed climate issues since losing the 2000 presidential race, posted a note on his blog that praised Romney for being consistent on his position that humans have contributed to rising global temperatures. "Good for Mitt Romney — though we've long passed the point where weak lip-service is enough on the Climate Crisis," Gore wrote. "While other Republicans are running from the truth, he...

As she prepares to enter the race in Iowa later this month, Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann has signed on high-profile political strategist Ed Rollins to run her presidential campaign, according to two sources close to Bachmann. Rollins, who was Mike Huckabee's national campaign director in the 2008 campaign, is an experienced political operative with a well-earned reputation for his tough tactics and willingness to play hardball.

Unprompted, Sarah Palin brought up Rick Perry's name yesterday as a strong presidential candidate. "I think he would be a fine candidate.... we have a lot in common. I really like him. But there are so many candidates and potential candidates out there who have so much to offer." Indeed. Except for Palin herself, Perry would probably be the strongest tea party candidate. Meanwhile, here's some vid from the New York Times of her stop in Gettysburg last night, where she reiterated the message that even though the 2012 field is strong, "there will be more strong candidates jumping in."...

Open Memo To: Nancy Pelosi From Cindy Sheehan Hey Nan, How's that "liberal agenda" going for you these days? You have had quite a run as the first female Speaker of the House, haven't you? In that almost four years now, you have fully funded the wars; rammed through the bankster bailouts and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Modernization Act; refused to hold the criminals of the Bush administration accountable; supported the torture policies of George Bush and wanted even stricter measures against suspected terrorists; obediently supported and defended the murderous Israeli oppression of Palestine; presided over the worst jobs' hemorrhage...

t hasn't been the greatest of months for Sarah Palin when it comes to her political star power. The two candidates Palin backed in Tuesday's primaries lost their bids, making the former Alaska governor 0-for-5 when it comes to endorsements this month. In Washington State, Palin had backed Tea Party activist Clint Didier in his bid for the Senate over businessman Dino Rossi, the favorite of national Republicans. In making her endorsement of Didier last May, Palin said the Tea Party favorite had "inspired" her, and hailed him as a "patriot running for U.S. Senate to serve his state &...

Is this the pot calling the kettle black again?Obama is on the campaign trail this week. After a recent swing in California for Barbara Boxer, who later began to slide downward in the polls, he went off to help Robin Carnahan in Missouri who had to cut the top price ticket at the fundraiser Obama headlined from $250 to $99. Carnahan is behind in every recent poll against Roy Blunt. Next, Obama was off to help Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in Las Vegas, a city which hasn't been as welcoming as it might considering how he repeatedly told people...

An energized state Republican party launched the general election campaign this morning at a victory rally at the Hilton hotel in Anaheim. The theme of the day and perhaps of the campaign: The GOP nominees represent new blood while the Democratic ticket is dominated by career politicians. Without a doubt, the GOP ticket is its most diverse in years in ethnicity and gender. It's led by two women - gubernatorial nominee Meg Whitman and U.S. Senate nominee Carly Fiorina; a Latino - Lt. Gov. nominee Abel Maldonado; and an African-American - Secretary of State nominee Damon Dunn. Fiorina drove home...

In case anyone missed the tea leaves scattered around the country, California’s primary results offer more evidence of voters’ dislike for political parties. The Golden State on Tuesday passed Proposition 14, creating a so-called open primary in which any voter is allowed to cast their vote for any candidate in the primary, regardless of party affiliation. The top two vote-getters would face each other in the general election, even if they were from the same party. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was a big backer of the change, arguing that it would push politics away from the polarized extremes and toward a...

YORBA LINDA, CA – Author and political strategist Dick Morris today announced his endorsement of U.S. Senate candidate Carly Fiorina. “It is my pleasure to endorse Carly Fiorina in the Republican Senate primary on June 8. While I have a high regard for Carly’s record and position on issues, my endorsement is based mainly on the fact that I believe she would be the best candidate to achieve victory for Republicans in November over Senator Boxer. “The conventional wisdom that a moderate does better than a conservative in a California statewide election does not, in my opinion, hold true for...

Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, offered support Monday for embattled Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele, who he praised for trying to build a bridge between the GOP establishment and the libertarian-minded activists who supported Paul's presidential bid. "Generally, the Republican leadership [doesn't] want to have anything to do with me and don't want to have anything to do with the Ron Paul people," Paul said in an interview on CNN's American Morning. "They should be looking to us and saying, 'You know, why don't we help these young people who are so anxious and interested in what I'm talking about?...

This week oil climbed to $87 a barrel, its highest level since October 2008 and prompted concerns that triple-digit crude was once again in the offing. This was after a period of eight months when oil traded between $70 and $80, a narrow band that pleased oil producers without hurting consumers too much. The latest surge seems to have been prompted by rising confidence in a global economic recovery, even if most traders and bankers are still cautious about supply and demand fundamentals. Worries about the Greek economy have pegged prices back over the last couple of days but the...

HENDERSON, Nev. (AP) - President Barack Obama turned an economic appearance in Nevada into an extended campaign plug for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, whose re-election fight could have a big impact on the balance of power in Washington and the fate of Obama's own proposals. Obama wrapped his arms around Reid at the start of the event on Friday and embraced Reid's work throughout. The president rarely missed a chance—on the economic stimulus plan, on health care, on the effort to regulate big banks—to put himself and Reid in the same sentence.

"President Obama kicks off what might be called his "Save the Senate" tour this week, heading west to campaign for two embattled Democrats trailing badly against Republican challengers - including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada. With high-profile Democrats already bailing out of re-election campaigns - Sen. Evan Bayh's decision on Monday to drop out of the race in Indiana brings the number of retirees to five - Mr. Obama is putting his popularity and fundraising prowess on the line as he tries to help his party hold the majority in the Senate. (cut) Mr. Obama is aware of...

President Obama's 0-fer streak continues. What began as a thank-you call for Haitian relief efforts to the top-ranked Kentucky Wildcats became the latest example of the Obama Kiss of Death. Obama and the Wildcats participated on the phone call Tuesday afternoon in Columbia, S.C., where Kentucky was to play South Carolina on Tuesday night. link Final Score, South Carolina 68 Kentucky 62.

President Obama will appear with politically embattled Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) in Las Vegas next month, according to a White House official. While it is not clear whether the appearance will be overtly political, any appearance by the president in Reid's home state is likely to be seen as an effort to buck up Reid's re-election effort. Reid faces a difficult race and trails potential Republican challengers in some recent polls. CQ Politics rates the general election race as a Tossup. For the latest on the 2010 Senate contests, check out the CQ Politics election map.

BOSTON—Bill Clinton is headlining a final rally for Democratic Senate candidate Martha Coakley. Discuss COMMENTS (15) The former president will speak Friday on behalf of the Massachusetts attorney general. She is locked in a competitive race with Republican Scott Brown to succeed the late Sen. Edward Kennedy. The special election is Jan. 19. Massachusetts was among Clinton's most supportive states during his two terms, and he previously taped an automated call on Coakley's behalf. Sen. John Kerry, the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, will also break away from hip surgery recovery to speak at the rally. Democrats deny they are concerned...

WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama signaled in an interview broadcast Sunday that he was unlikely to authorize a broad inquiry into Bush administration programs like domestic eavesdropping or the treatment of terrorism suspects. But Mr. Obama also said prosecutions would proceed if the Justice Department found evidence that laws had been broken. As a candidate, Mr. Obama broadly condemned some counterterrorism tactics of the Bush administration and its claim that the measures were justified under executive powers. But his administration will face competing demands: pressure from liberals who want wide-ranging criminal investigations, and the need to establish trust among the...

BIDEN RISING IN VEEPSTAKES June 14, 2008 -- BEFORE multimillionaire Democratic power broker James A. Johnson quit as Sen. Barack Obama's chief vice presidential screener, the name that came to the fore in his internal discussions was 65-year-old, six-term Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware. Biden, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman, made a good impression in his losing bid for the presidential nomination this year. The downside on him is that he talks too much. But he provides expertise and experience in national security that Obama lacks and, as a Catholic, adds cultural diversity to the ticket. A footnote: Presidential...

Prospects of Democratic candidate, Hillary Clinton winning the US Presidential nomination have turned grimmer and dimmer with bad news breaking by the day. On Thursday, former President, Jimmy Carter drove a dagger through the heart of her campaign by indicating he would be supporting rival Barack Obama, even as African-American challenger outdid her famous fundraising ability by two to one, taking in $40 million in contributions to her $20 million in March, but her campaign received a big blow when Carter confirmed that his heart is with Obama. Carter declared that he will cast his vote as a super-delegate in...

HARTFORD, Conn. - Richard Widmark, who made a sensational film debut as the giggling killer in "Kiss of Death" and became a Hollywood leading man in "Broken Lance," "Two Rode Together" and 40 other films, has died after a long illness. He was 93. Widmark's wife, Susan Blanchard, says the actor died at his home in Roxbury on Monday. She would not provide details of his illness and said funeral arrangements are private. "It was a big shock, but he was 93," Blanchard said. After a career in radio drama and theater, Widmark moved to films as Tommy Udo, who...

AUSTIN, Texas - Hillary Clinton, the front-runner no more, sought to bury Barack Obama, but also to praise him in their latest campaign debate and revive her own White House hopes in the process. "No matter what happens in this contest — and I am honored, I am honored to be here with Barack Obama," she said at the conclusion of the 90-minute forum. "Whatever happens, we're going to be fine." It was an unexpectedly gracious moment in a debate that was supposed to be a game changer for Clinton in the run-up to crucial primaries in Texas and Ohio...

CHARLESTON, S.C.—Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, endorsed Sen. Barack Obama for the White House Thursday in a timely slap at Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton as well as his own vice presidential running mate.

Does a John Kerry endorsement help or hurt? I'd say the latter, especially given the surprising decision to endorse Barack Obama. The previous Democratic nominee will give Obama his blessing later today at a South Carolina rally: Barack Obama has won the presidential endorsement of Sen. John Kerry, the Democrats' 2004 nominee who lost to George W. Bush. Kerry, a senator from Massachusetts, plans to announce his support Thursday at a rally at the College of Charleston, said a Democrat familiar with Kerry's decision. The 2004 nominee will argue that Obama can best unite the country and has the potential...

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. — Barack Obama has won the presidential endorsement of Sen. John Kerry, the Democrats’ 2004 nominee who lost to George W. Bush. Kerry, a senator from Massachusetts, plans to announce his support Thursday at a rally at the College of Charleston, said a Democrat familiar with Kerry’s decision. The 2004 nominee will argue that Obama can best unite the country and has the potential to create transformational change, the person said.

BOSTON (AP) — The Boston Globe's editorial board has endorsed Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain ahead of the New Hampshire presidential primary and the Iowa caucus, the newspaper reported Saturday. The board noted that Obama fulfills America's need for "a president with an intuitive sense of the wider world," and that McCain "has done more than his share to transcend partisanship and promote an honest discussion of the problems facing the United States," the newspaper reported on its Web site. The endorsements followed in-depth interviews with the presidential contenders. The board says Obama's diverse and international life experience helped...

Just now on Fox News's Hannity and Colmes, when Alan Colmes pushed Buchanan on who he supports for President, Pat Buchanan mentioned one guy, Duncan Hunter. He said on the issue of foreign trade, Duncan Hunter is the best candidate.